Method of, and apparatus for, separating and/or measuring items of laundry

ABSTRACT

A reliable operation for sorting items of laundry automatically. For this purpose, provision is made for a plurality of simultaneously gripped items of laundry to be separated once they have been gripped by a gripping arrangement ( 20 ). Reliable separation of an item of laundry is followed by the item of laundry being measured in the straightened-out state on a conveyor. Preferably the distance between two diagonally opposite corners of the item of laundry on the conveyor is determined. This gives rise to very precise automatic measuring always just of a single item of laundry.

STATEMENT OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119 of GermanPatent Application No. 10 2010 049 255.8 having a filing date of 25 Oct.2010 and German Patent Application No. 10 2010 053 080.8 having a filingdate of 1 Dec. 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to a method of separating items of laundry,wherein items of laundry are extracted from a pile of laundry by agripping arrangement, the at least one item of laundry hanging down fromthe gripping arrangement is transferred to a conveyor, and a rearmostregion of an item of laundry is detected and fixed at that end of theconveyor which is located opposite the gripping arrangement. Theinvention also relates to a method of measuring items of laundry,wherein the items of laundry in the first instance are separated andthen measured. The invention further relates to an apparatus forseparating items of laundry, having a gripping arrangement for drawingitems of laundry out of a pile of laundry, and having a conveyor forreceiving the or each item of laundry drawn out of the pile of laundryby the gripping arrangement.

2. Prior Art

Items of laundry often have to be sorted in laundries. For example,dirty laundry is delivered to laundries in sacks which contain differentitems of laundry, which require different laundering treatments andtherefore have to be sorted prior to washing. These different items oflaundry may be an assortment of whites and colors, in particular also amixture of items of clothing and flatwork made of different textiles.The different items of laundry in the first instance have to be removedindividually from the piles of laundry before they can be sorted inaccordance with different sorting criteria.

The operation of separating the items of laundry, which precedes thesorting operation, already takes place automatically. There is still aproblem, however, in the automatic separating operation, which takesplace reliably only to a limited extent. However, reliable separation isnecessary for the following sorting operation.

Moreover, the sorting operation requires prior knowledge of at least onedimension, which allows conclusions to be drawn as to the size of therespective item of laundry. It is indeed known for the items of laundryto be measured prior to sorting, in order to obtain the desireddimension of the items of laundry; however, the measuring methods whichhave been used hitherto are fairly complex and not precise enough.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Proceeding from the above, it is an object of the invention to provide amethod and an apparatus which allow items of laundry to be separatedautomatically in a reliable manner and to be measured precisely in astraightforward manner.

A method of achieving this object is a method of separating items oflaundry, wherein items of laundry are extracted from a pile of laundryby a gripping arrangement, the at least one item of laundry hanging downfrom the gripping arrangement is transferred to a conveyor, and arearmost region of an item of laundry is detected and fixed at that endof the conveyor which is located opposite the gripping arrangement,characterized in that in the case of a plurality of items of laundry onthe conveyor, only the final item of laundry is fixed at the rear end orcorner and the at least one further, unfixed item of laundry is ejectedfrom the conveyor. Accordingly, provision is made, in the case of aplurality of items of laundry gripped by the gripper and deposited on aconveyor, for just the rearmost, final end of the item of laundry to befixed on the conveyor. This is based on the knowledge that the final endof the item of laundry is a part, in particular a corner, of a singleitem of laundry. Consequently, only a single item of laundry is fixed onthe conveyor. The remaining, unfixed items of laundry can then slidedown from the conveyor, in which case only one item of laundry stillremains on the conveyor.

It is preferably provided that the in each case at least one unfixeditem of laundry sliding down from the conveyor is ejected back onto thepile of laundry which is to be separated or into a container or onto afeed conveyor for the pile of laundry. Such items of laundry are thusre-fed automatically for separation by being subsequently drawn outagain from the pile of laundry, or from a receiving container, by thegripper.

A preferred configuration of the method makes provision for the at leastone item of laundry to be transferred onto the conveyor by the gripperin a diagonally directed manner, preferably in a state in which ithangs, or is straightened out, diagonally. This means that diagonallyopposite corners of the at least one item of laundry are located on theconveyor, wherein the one corner defines the foremost point of therespective item of laundry, as seen in the conveying direction of theconveyor, and the other corner defines the rearmost point. This ensuresthat, in the case of a plurality of items of laundry deposited on theconveyor by the gripper, the rearmost point is always just one corner ofa single item of laundry which can be fixed reliably, in which casedefinitive, complete separation takes place on the conveyor in that itis only ever a single item of laundry which is fixed on the conveyor andthe other items of laundry slide down from the conveyor and pass back tothe pile of laundry.

A rear corner of a single item of laundry is preferably fixed on theconveyor such that that part of the just one item of laundry fixed onthe conveyor at a rear corner which precedes the fixed corner hangs downfreely from the front end of the conveyor. The lowermost point of theitem of laundry hanging down from the conveyor here is preferably thefront corner of the item of laundry, which is located diagonallyopposite the fixed, rear corner. This gives rise to the item of laundrybeing oriented and/or spread out diagonally, as a result of which theitem of laundry has a defined position and orientation. The single itemof laundry can thus be subjected to further treatment in a specificposition with diagonally opposite corners drawn apart from one another.In particular the item of laundry passes in this way onto a followingconveyor, on which it is measured.

A further method of achieving the object mentioned in the introduction,and this may also be a preferred development of the previously describedmethod, is a method of measuring items of laundry, wherein the items oflaundry in the first instance are separated and then measured,characterized in that the distance between two opposite points of theseparated item of laundry, as seen in the conveying direction of aconveyor, is determined, with the item of laundry at least in part inthe state in which it is laid out or straightened out on the conveyor,as the item is being transported further by the conveyor. Accordingly,the distance between two opposite points of the separated item oflaundry, as seen in the conveying direction of a conveyor, isdetermined, with the item of laundry in the state in which it is laidout, that is to say spread out to some extent, as the item of laundry isbeing transported further on the conveyor. The item of laundry ismeasured as a result. This measuring operation determines a longitudinaldimension of the item of laundry, which is important for the followingtreatment, in particular sorting, of the item of laundry. The dimensiondetermined is preferably one which corresponds to the longitudinalextent of the laid-out or straightened-out item of laundry in thetransporting direction of the conveyor. This may be, for example, awidth dimension or length dimension of the item of laundry.

In the case of a preferred configuration of the method, it is providedthat successive movement of the front point, and of the rear point, ofthe single item of laundry past the same region or the same line,running preferably perpendicularly to the transporting direction of theconveyor, and the distance covered by the conveyor from when the frontpoint of the item of laundry moves past until the rear point of the itemof laundry moves past are determined. This allows straightforward andreliable measurement of the item of laundry on the conveyor, wherein thedimension of the distance between the front and the rear points of theitem of laundry in the transporting direction of the conveyor is ideallya dimension which is characteristic of the size of the item of laundry.

A preferred configuration of the method provides that the item oflaundry is deposited on the conveyor by way of diagonally oppositecorners and/or is received from the conveyor by way of diagonallyopposite corners. This means that points of the item of laundry whichare characteristic of the size of the same can be determined, preferablyin a contactless manner, on the conveyor and the desired operation ofmeasuring the item of laundry can thus be carried out. Provision ispreferably made, in the case of the item of laundry being located on theconveyor with diagonally opposite corners, for the distance between thediagonally opposite corners of the item of laundry on the conveyor to bedetermined.

If the item of laundry, according to a preferred configuration of theinvention, is laid out on the conveyor in a state in which it is spreadout or straightened out to a slight extent in the longitudinal directionof the conveyor, this gives the diagonal dimension of the item oflaundry, from which conclusions can be drawn as to the size of the itemof laundry. The item of laundry, for measuring purposes, can lie flat,in its entirety, on a conveyor of corresponding width. However, it isalso sufficient if just a narrow strip of the item of laundry rests onthe conveyor by way of the diagonally opposite corners, in which caseopposite peripheral regions of the item of laundry hang down from theconveyor on opposite sides. The conveyor may then be designed tonarrower than the item of laundry.

The method according to the invention can be developed advantageously bythe operation of the item of laundry being received from the precedingconveyor taking place by virtue of the conveyor on which the item oflaundry is measured being pivoted. It is preferably here for that end ofthe conveyor which is oriented towards the preceding conveyor to bepivoted beneath an end of the preceding conveyor or a counterpressuremeans in the region of the preceding conveyor. This means that the itemof laundry which is largely hanging down from the preceding conveyor,and is straightened out under its own weight, in particular straightenedout over the diagonal, is received by the conveyor in the state in whichit hangs down from the preceding conveyor. This allows the item oflaundry to be measured in the slightly straightened-out or drawn-apartstate, and this means that relatively precise measuring results can beachieved.

Another preferred development of the method provides that the conveyorreceives the item of laundry by way of the corner point fixed on thepreceding conveyor. This means that the item of laundry, as has beenreceived by the conveyor, hangs down in precisely the same way as itdoes from the preceding conveyor, as a result of which the conveyorwhich carries out the measurement of the item of laundry can receive theitem of laundry with the latter in the state in which it is straightenedout under its own weight. This also leads to comparatively precisemeasuring results.

An apparatus for achieving the object mentioned in the introduction isan apparatus for separating items of laundry, having a grippingarrangement for drawing items of laundry out of a pile of laundry, andhaving a conveyor for receiving the or each item of laundry drawn out ofthe pile of laundry by the gripping arrangement, characterized in thatthe conveyor is assigned a following conveyor for determining at leastone dimension of the item of laundry. In the case of this apparatus,provision is made for a further conveyor to be arranged downstream ofthe conveyor which receives at least one item of laundry drawn out ofthe pile of laundry by the gripper, wherein this following conveyorserves for determining a dimension and/or for measuring the item oflaundry. In the case of this apparatus, the conveyor arranged downstreamof the gripper gives rise to reliable separation, in which case just asingle item of laundry is fed to the following conveyor for measuringpurposes. This ensures reliable automatic measuring of the item oflaundry.

It is preferably provided that the distance between the corners locateddiagonally on the conveyor is determined. The diagonal dimension of thesingle item of laundry can be deduced therefrom. The corners determinedare those which are located on the conveyor, to be precise at theforemost point and the rearmost point. The corners need not necessarilybe located along a line in the conveying direction of the conveyor; theymay be located anywhere within the width of the conveyor.

A development of the apparatus provides that the following conveyor isassigned detection means for determining at least one dimension of theitem of laundry. The following conveyor preferably has at least onesensor for determining a front or rear point of the item of laundrylocated on the following conveyor, and also has a displacement sensor.The former sensor may be a type of light barrier, which determineswhether, over a line running transversely to the transporting directionof the conveyor, the conveyor is occupied by the item of laundry or isfree therefrom. When the foremost point of the item of laundry reachesthe light-barrier-like sensor, a signal is generated, irrespective ofthe location, in relation to the width of the conveyor, of the frontpoint of the item of laundry. When the rear point of the item of laundrysubsequently passes preferably the same light-barrier-like sensor, afurther signal is generated, this, in turn, being irrespective of thelocation, in relation to the width of the conveyor, of the rear point ofthe item of laundry on the conveyor. The displacement sensor measuresthe distance which the conveyor with the item of laundry has coveredbetween the time at which the front point of the item of laundry isdetermined by the sensor and the time at which the rear point of theitem of laundry is determined. This dimension is then the dimensionwhich is required for measuring the item of laundry, and is a diagonaldimension of the item of laundry if the sensors detect the front and therear diagonally opposite corners of the item of laundry.

A further advantageous configuration of the invention makes provisionfor the conveyor which follows the gripper to be assigned a means forgripping a rearmost corner of one of the plurality of items of laundrydeposited on the conveyor by the gripper. This means secures therearmost corner of an item of laundry located on the conveyor, whereasthe rear corners of the remaining items of laundry, which are locatedelsewhere, are not gripped by the means. This means that just a singleitem of laundry is fixed on the conveyor, whereas the remaining items oflaundry, which are not gripped by the means, slide down from theconveyor and are fed to the separating process anew. This ensuresreliable separation of the items of laundry prior to them beingmeasured. This allows each individual item of laundry to be measuredreliably.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred item of laundry of the invention will be explained in moredetail hereinbelow with reference to the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective overall view of a sorting installation.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the sorting installation from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of an apparatus for separating and measuringitems of laundry.

FIG. 4 shows the apparatus from FIG. 3 following a first separatingstep.

FIG. 5 shows the apparatus from FIG. 3 following a second separatingstep.

FIG. 6 shows the apparatus from FIG. 3 following a third separatingstep.

FIG. 7 shows the apparatus from FIG. 3 during the operation of measuringan item of laundry.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The automatic sorting installation shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 serves forautomatically separating, measuring, identifying and distributing(sorting) all types of items of laundry. The items of laundry 10, whichare shown only in FIGS. 3 to 7, may be dirty items 10 of laundry, butalso washed items 10 of laundry.

The automatic sorting installation shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a feedconveyor 11, a following apparatus 12 for separating and measuring theitems 10 of laundry, a following identification unit 13 and a sortingarrangement 14, with a sorting conveyor 15, and a series of collectingcontainers 16, which are arranged on one side alongside the sortingconveyor 15 and are intended for sorted items 10 of laundry. The feedconveyor 11 and the sorting conveyor 15, in the case of the automaticsorting installation shown here, are belt conveyors.

The apparatus 12 for separating and measuring items 10 of laundry isillustrated in FIGS. 3 to 7. The apparatus 12 has a housing 17 providedwith a frame. A holder for a pile 18 of laundry is provided at thebottom of the housing 17. The holder, in the exemplary embodiment shown,has a storage belt 19 which can be moved back and forth and on which theentire pile 18 of laundry rests.

The apparatus 12 has a gripping arrangement 20, which is arranged abovethe pile 18 of laundry. The gripping arrangement 20 is arranged at afixed location on the upper side of the frame of the housing 17. Thegripping arrangement 20 has a gripper 21, which is fastened at the lowerend of a piston rod of a pressure-medium cylinder 22 which can be movedup and down. The gripping arrangement 20, which is arranged above thepile 18 of laundry, makes it possible for the downwardly moved gripper21 to draw a single item 10 of laundry out of the pile 18 of laundry,and to separate it in the process. It may also be the case, however,that the gripper 21 draws a plurality of items 10 of laundrysimultaneously out of the pile 18 of laundry, in which case the grippingarrangement 20 does not separate a single item 10 of laundry completely.

A fixed-location conveyor, which in the exemplary embodiment shown isdesigned as a circulating belt conveyor 23, is located between the pile18 of laundry and the gripper 21 moved all the way upwards. The beltconveyor 23 is fitted at a fixed location on the frame of the housing17. A single item 10 of laundry is, or also a plurality of items 10 oflaundry gripped simultaneously by the gripping arrangement 20 are,transported further in the conveyor direction 24, with a slight upwardslope, by the belt conveyor 23.

A preliminary conveyor 26, which can be pivoted about a rear deflectingdrum 25, as seen in the conveying direction 24, is arranged upstream ofthe belt conveyor 23, as seen in the conveying direction 24. Thepivotable preliminary conveyor 26, in the exemplary embodiment shown, isformed by a front part of the belt conveyor 23. The capability of thepreliminary conveyor 26 to pivot about its rear deflecting drum 25, asseen in the conveying direction 24, means that a free front end 27 ofthe preliminary conveyor 26 can be pivoted up and down, to be precise byat least one pressure-medium cylinder 28. The front part of the beltconveyor, this front part forming the preliminary conveyor 26, can thusbe angled in relation to the remaining fixed, rear part of the beltconveyor 23.

The front, pivotable end 27 of the preliminary conveyor 26 is assigned apressure-exerting roller 29, which is freely rotatable or may also bedriven. The pressure-exerting roller 29 is located on that side of thevertical movement path of the gripper 21 which is located opposite thepivoted-down preliminary conveyor 26 or belt conveyor 23. Thepressure-exerting roller 29 is arranged at a fixed location on the frameof the housing 17 such that, with the preliminary conveyor 26 pivotedupwards, the upper strand thereof is in abutment beneath thepressure-exerting roller 29. If the preliminary conveyor 26 is pivoteddownwards, the front end 27 of the same is so far removed from thepressure-exerting roller 29 in the horizontal direction that the or eachitem 10 of laundry gripped by the gripper 21 can be drawn up out of thepile 18 of laundry between the pivoted-down preliminary conveyor 26 andthe pressure-exerting roller 29.

The rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23, this rear end being directedaway from the preliminary conveyor 26 and from the gripping arrangement20, is assigned a pressure-exerting means, which in the exemplaryembodiment shown is also a preferably freely rotatable pressure-exertingroller 31. The pressure-exerting roller 31 is located in a pivotablemanner above the upper strand at the rear end 30 of the belt conveyor23. In a rest position, in particular if there is no item 10 of laundrylocated on the belt conveyor 23, the pressure-exerting roller 31 ispivoted away, that is to say pivoted upwards, from the upper strand ofthe belt conveyor 23 (FIG. 3). The rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23is assigned a sensor (not shown in the figures) for detecting atrailing, rear end, in particular a rear corner, as seen in theconveying direction 24, of the single item 10 of laundry on the upperstrand of the belt conveyor 23 or of the rearmost of a plurality ofitems 10 of laundry on the belt conveyor 23. This sensor serves forbringing the drive of the belt conveyor 23 to a standstill and also forpivoting the pressure-exerting roller 31 onto the upper strand of thebelt conveyor 23 when it detects an end, in particular a corner, forsingle item 10 of laundry or a rearmost end or the rearmost corner ofone of a plurality of items 10 of laundry partially overlapping on thebelt conveyor 23.

A further conveyor, which in the exemplary embodiment shown is alsodesigned as a circulating belt conveyor 32, is arranged upstream of thebelt conveyor 23, as seen in the conveying direction 24. The beltconveyor 32 is mounted on the frame of the housing 17 such that it canbe pivoted about a rear end 33, which is directed away from the beltconveyor 23. Accordingly, a front end 34 of the belt conveyor 32, thisfront end being oriented towards the belt conveyor 23, can be pivoted upand down over a circular path about the rear end 33. The belt conveyor32 is pivoted by at least one pressure-medium cylinder 35. The front end34 of the belt conveyor 32 can be pivoted upwards to such an extent thatan upper strand 36 of the belt conveyor 32, in the region of the frontend 34, comes into abutment against, or beneath, a freely rotatable,fixed-location pressure-exerting roller 37 beneath the rear end 30 ofthe belt conveyor 23.

A deflecting drum or a driving drum at the rear end 33 or front end 34of the belt conveyor 32 is assigned a rotation sensor, in particular asensor bearing. This makes it possible to measure the distance which theupper strand 36 of the belt conveyor 32 has covered between twomeasurements. Moreover, the belt conveyor 32 is assigned at least onesensor preferably in the form of a sensor strip or a light barrier. Thesensor strip or the light barrier is arranged transversely to theconveying direction 24 of the belt conveyor 32, to be precise such thatit determines whether a part, for example a corner, of an item 10 oflaundry is passing or leaving the reflection light barrier or the sensorstrip. The act of a corner of an item 10 of laundry passing and leavingthe reflection light barrier or the sensor strip triggers a respectivemeasuring signal, which starts and stops the distance measurement of thesensor bearing.

At least the belt conveyor 32 serving for measuring the item 10 oflaundry, and preferably also the belt conveyor 23 with the preliminaryconveyor 26, are of a width which is large enough for even large items10 of laundry to be accommodated in a flat or spread-out state thereon,in particular with the diagonal running in the conveying direction 24.This means that the item 10 of laundry rests entirely on the beltconveyor 32 as it is being measured. It is also conceivable for the beltconveyor 23 and/or the belt conveyor 32, along with the preliminaryconveyor, to be designed to be narrower than the items 10 of laundry. Inthis case, opposite peripheral regions of the item 10 of laundry whichis to be measured hang down from opposite sides of the belt conveyor 32,and so an in-between region of the item 10 of laundry rests on the beltconveyor 32 for measuring purposes. The item 10 of laundry isstraightened out or spread out flat on the belt conveyor 32 formeasuring purposes by way of the peripheral regions which hang downlaterally. However, the belt conveyor 32 has to be of such a width thatthe diagonally opposite corner regions used for measuring the item 10 oflaundry are located one behind the other on the upper strand 36 of thebelt conveyor 32, to be precise in the flat state.

The apparatus 12 is followed in the conveying direction 24 by a weighingcell 38 of the identification unit 13. The weighing cell 38 has twopivoting flaps 39 which can be pivoted in opposite directions and, whenpivoted upwards, form a closed weighing surface. The pivoting flaps 39are mounted on force transducers of a weighing table 40. The forcetransducers determine the weight of the pivoting flap 39 with an item 10of laundry located thereon. This allows the weight of the item 10 oflaundry to be determined. Once the item 10 of laundry has been weighed,the pivoting flaps 39 are pivoted downwards in opposite directions andthe weighing surface is thus opened. The item 10 of laundry thus passeson to a conveyor, preferably a belt conveyor 41. The belt conveyor 41transports the item 10 of laundry through the identification unit 13, tobe precise past a volume camera 42, which generates a three-dimensionalimage, a colour camera 43 and a structure camera 44. The sequence of thethree cameras can vary from the illustration in FIG. 2. In the region ofthe volume camera 42, a vacuum table 45 for attaching the item 10 oflaundry by suction on the upper strand of the belt conveyor 41 islocated beneath the belt conveyor 41.

Once the item 10 of laundry has moved through the identification unit13, in which the sorting criteria of the item 10 of laundry weredetermined, it passes to the sorting arrangement 14, where, sorted inaccordance with the sorting criteria determined in the identificationunit 13, it is ejected into an appropriate collecting container 16.

The method according to the invention will be explained in more detailhereinbelow with reference to the above description of the automaticsorting installation, in particular of the apparatus 12, for separatingand measuring an item 10 of laundry:

A single item 10 of laundry is extracted from the pile 18 of laundry bythe gripper 21 of the gripping arrangement 20. Displacement of thestorage belt 19 moves the pile 18 of laundry beneath the grippingarrangement 20 such that the latter can always grip an item 10 oflaundry even as the pile 18 of laundry is dwindling.

Ideally, the gripper 31 grips just a single item 10 of laundry. It maybe the case, however, that the gripper 21 grips a plurality of items 10of laundry simultaneously. In this case, the apparatus 12, downstream ofthe gripping arrangement 20, carries out reliable separation of aplurality of simultaneously gripped items 10 of laundry. For thedescription which follows, it is assumed that the gripper has grippedtwo items 10 of laundry simultaneously, wherein these items may be thesame or different items of laundry, in particular items 10 of laundry ofdifferent sizes.

Two simultaneously gripped items 10 of laundry are moved upwards by thegripper 21 of the gripping arrangement 20, to be precise between thepreliminary conveyor 26 and the pressure-exerting roller 29 locatedopposite the same. Once the gripper 21 has been moved upwards into itsuppermost end position, the items 10 of laundry hang down between thepreliminary conveyor 26 and the pressure-exerting roller 29 (FIG. 4).The preliminary conveyor 26 is then pivoted upwards in the anticlockwisedirection, in which case its front end 27 comes into abutment beneaththe pressure-exerting roller 29 and, in the process, clamps in the twoitems 10 of laundry in the vicinity of their upper end regions. Theitems 10 of laundry are thus retained between the front end 27 of thepreliminary conveyor 26 and the pressure-exerting roller 29, whereuponthe gripper 21 opens and releases the items 10 of laundry. The items 10of laundry are then transported in the conveying direction 24 over thebelt conveyor 23 by a drive of the belt conveyor 23 with the preliminaryconveyor 26. As soon as the items 10 of laundry are located largely onthe belt conveyor 23, the preliminary conveyor 26 is pivoted back intothe starting position, as a result of which the gripper 21 can movedownwards again between the preliminary conveyor 26 and thepressure-exerting roller 29 in order to grip preferably the nextseparated item 10 of laundry.

On account of the items 10 of laundry hanging down from the gripper 21being clamped firmly between the front end 27 of the preliminaryconveyor 26 and the pressure-exerting roller 29, the items 10 of laundrypass onto the belt conveyor 23 with diagonal corners located one behindthe other. As the items 10 of laundry are being transported further ontothe belt conveyor 23, the sensor means assigned to the latter detectsthe rear corner of that item 10 of laundry which is the last to pass thesensor means. The sensor means then causes the pressure-exerting roller31 to move downwards against the upper strand of the belt conveyor 23.As a result, the rearmost corner of an item 10 of laundry is clampedfirmly between the belt conveyor 23 and the pressure-exerting roller 31and the drive of the belt conveyor 23 is stopped. The item 10 of laundryclamped firmly at the rear corner by the pressure-exerting roller 31 atthe rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23 then hangs downwards in front ofthe rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23 (FIG. 6). The second item 10 oflaundry, which, as a result of the rear end, in particular of the rearcorner, leading in the conveying direction 24, is not clamped firmlybetween the pressure-exerting roller 31 and the belt conveyor 23, slidesdownwards from the rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23 under the weightof its main part hanging down in front of the rear end 30 of the beltconveyor 23. The positioning of the rear end 30 of the belt conveyor 23above the storage belt 19 means that this item 10 of laundry falls backonto the pile 18 of laundry.

The above described procedure gives rise to the separation of aplurality of items 10 of laundry gripped simultaneously by the gripper21, in which case it is just the rear corner of a single, separated item10 of laundry which is located at the rear end 30 of the belt conveyor23. The belt conveyor 32 receives this rear corner of the single item 10of laundry from the belt conveyor 23. This takes place by the beltconveyor 32 being pivoted upwards in the anticlockwise direction aboutits rear end 33, in which case the front end 34 of the belt conveyor 32passes beneath the pressure-exerting roller 37. The rear corner of theitem 10 of laundry here is clamped firmly by the front end 34 of thebelt conveyor 32 on one side of the item 10 of laundry and by thepressure-exerting roller 37 on the opposite side of the item 10 oflaundry, this opposite side being oriented towards the belt conveyor 23.The fixing of the rear corner of the item 10 of laundry on the beltconveyor 23 is then released by virtue of the pressure-exerting roller31 being moved away from the upper strand of the belt conveyor 23.Driving of the circulating belt of the belt conveyor 32, and possiblythe pressure-exerting roller 37, then causes the item 10 of laundry tobe drawn in the conveying direction 24 onto the upper strand 36 of thebelt conveyor 32 with an upper corner, in particular the original rearcorner, leading, until such time as the lower corner, in other words theoriginal diagonally opposite front corner of the item 10 of laundry, islocated on the upper strand 36.

As the item 10 of laundry is being transported further onto the beltconveyor 32, the sensor strip or reflection light barrier, extendingtransversely to the conveying direction 24 over the entire width of thebelt conveyor 32, in the first instance detects the front corner of theitem 10 of laundry. This detection results in the measuring operation ofthe sensor bearing of the belt conveyor 32 starting. The measuringoperation of the sensor bearing is terminated as soon as the sensorstrip or the reflection light barrier detects the through-passage of thefollowing corner. Measurement of the item 10 of laundry has thus takenplace, the distance covered by the belt conveyor 32 during the measuringoperation by the sensor bearing corresponding to the diagonal of theitem 10 of laundry. This dimension makes it possible to draw conclusionsas to the size of the item 10 of laundry.

Following the measuring operation, the item 10 of laundry is depositedby the belt conveyor 32 onto the weighing surface of the identificationunit 13, this main surface being closed by the upwardly pivoted pivotingflaps 39. The weight of the item 10 of laundry is determined here by theweight of the pivoting flaps 39 being subtracted from the overall weightof the pivoting flaps 39 and the item 10 of laundry, this overall weighthaving been determined by means of the weighing cell 38. Once the weightof the item 10 of laundry has been determined in this way, the pivotingflaps 39 open, in which case the item 10 of laundry falls onto the beltconveyor 41, which transports the item 10 of laundry through theidentification unit 13 and past the volume camera 42, the color camera43 and the structure camera 44. In order to simplify or to improve theoperation of the item 10 of laundry being scanned by the cameras, theitem 10 of laundry is fixed on the upper strand of the belt conveyor 41by the vacuum table 45 beneath the belt conveyor 41.

Once the volume camera 42, the color camera 43 and the structure camera44 have determined all of the other sorting criteria, such as color andstructure of the item 10 of laundry, the item 10 of laundry is sorted inaccordance with the sorting criteria, which also includes the previouslydetermined size of the item 10 of laundry and the weight of the same, bythe sorting arrangement 14, that is to say it is ejected into therelevant collecting container 16, which is provided for items 10 oflaundry with the determined sorting criteria, in particular size,weight, color, woven-fabric structure and/or type.

List of designations: 10 Item of laundry 11 Feed conveyor 12 Apparatus13 Identification unit 14 Sorting arrangement 15 Sorting conveyor 16Collecting container 17 Housing 18 Pile of laundry 19 Storage belt 20Gripping arrangement 21 gripper 22 Pressure-medium cylinder 23 Beltconveyor 24 Conveying direction 25 Deflecting drum 26 Preliminaryconveyor 27 Front end 28 Pressure-medium cylinder 29 Pressure-exertingroller 30 Rear end 31 Pressure-exerting roller 32 Belt conveyor 33 Rearend 34 Front end 35 Pressure-medium cylinder 36 Upper strand 37Pressure-exerting roller 38 Weighing cell 39 Pivoting flap 40 Weighingtable 41 Belt conveyor 42 Volume camera 43 Color camera 44 Structurecamera 45 Vacuum table

1. A method of separating items (10) of laundry, comprising: extractingat least one item (10) of laundry from a pile (18) of laundry by agripping arrangement (20), the at least one item (10) of laundry hangingdown from the gripping arrangement (20); transferring the at least oneitem of laundry (10) hanging down from the gripping arrangement (20) toa conveyor; and detecting and fixing a rearmost region of an item (10)of laundry at that end of the conveyor which is located opposite thegripping arrangement (20), wherein in the case of a plurality of the atleast one item (10) of laundry on the conveyor, fixing only the finalitem of laundry at the rear end or corner and ejecting at least onefurther, unfixed item (10) of laundry from the conveyor.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising transferring the at least oneitem (10) of laundry to the conveyor in a diagonally directed manner, ina state in which the at least one item of laundry (10) hangs, or isstraightened out, diagonally.
 3. The method according to claim 2,further comprising fixing the rear corner of the at least one item (10)of laundry on the conveyor such that that part of the at least one item(10) of laundry which precedes the fixed corner hangs down freely fromthat end of the conveyor which is located opposite the grippingarrangement (20), wherein a corner of the at least one item (10) oflaundry that is located diagonally opposite the fixed rear corner hangsdown the lowest from the conveyor.
 4. A method of measuring an item (10)of laundry, comprising: separating and then measuring the item (10) oflaundry; and determining the distance between two opposite points of theseparated item of laundry (10), as seen in the conveying direction (24)of a conveyor, with the item (10) of laundry at least in part in thestate in which the item of laundry (10) is laid out or straightened outon the conveyor, as the item (10) is being transported further by theconveyor.
 5. The method according to claim 4, further comprisingdetermining movement of a front point, and subsequent movement of a rearpoint, of the item (10) of laundry past the same region of the conveyorand the distance covered by the conveyor in the process are determined.6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising depositing theitem (10) of laundry on the conveyor, and/or receiving the item oflaundry (10) from the conveyor by way of diagonally opposite corners. 7.The method according to claim 6, further comprising determining thedistance between the diagonally opposite corners of the item (10) oflaundry on the conveyor.
 8. The method according to claim 7, furthercomprising receiving the item (10) of laundry from a preceding conveyorby virtue of the conveyor being pivoted, wherein the rear end (32) ofthe conveyor, which is oriented towards the preceding conveyor, ispivoted beneath an end of the preceding conveyor or a counterpressuremeans beneath the end of the preceding conveyor.
 9. The method accordingto 8, wherein the item (10) of laundry is received by the conveyor byway of the corner or point fixed on the preceding conveyor.
 10. Anapparatus for separating items (10) of laundry, comprising: a grippingarrangement (20) for drawing items (10) of laundry out of a pile (18) oflaundry; a conveyor for receiving the or each of the items (10) oflaundry drawn out of the pile (18) of laundry by the grippingarrangement (20); and a following conveyor assigned to the conveyor,wherein the following conveyor is for determining at least one dimensionof the item (10) of laundry.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10,further comprising a detection means assigned to the following conveyor,wherein the detection means is for determining the dimension of the item(10) of laundry, the following conveyor comprises at least one sensorfor determining a front and a rear point of the item (10) of laundry,which is in a straightened-out or spread-out state on the followingconveyor, and the following conveyor also comprises a displacementsensor.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising,assigned to the conveyor which follows the gripping arrangement (20), ameans for gripping a rearmost point of one of a plurality of items (10)of laundry deposited on the conveyor by the gripping arrangement (20).13. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising, assigned tothe conveyor which follows the gripping arrangement (20), a means forgripping a rearmost point of one of a plurality of items (10) of laundrydeposited on the conveyor by the gripping arrangement (20).
 14. A methodof separating and measuring items (10) of laundry, comprising:extracting at least one item (10) of laundry from a pile (18) of laundryby a gripping arrangement (20), the at least one item (10) of laundryhanging down from the gripping arrangement (20); transferring the atleast one item of laundry (10) hanging down from the grippingarrangement (20) to a conveyor; detecting and fixing a rearmost regionof an item (10) of laundry at that end of the conveyor which is locatedopposite the gripping arrangement (20), wherein in the case of aplurality of the at least one item (10) of laundry on the conveyor,fixing only the final item of laundry at the rear end or corner andejecting at least one further, unfixed item (10) of laundry from theconveyor; and measuring the at least one item (10) of laundry bydetermining the distance between two opposite points of the separateditems of laundry (10), as seen in the conveying direction (24) of aconveyor, with the items (10) of laundry at least in part in the statein which the items of laundry (10) are laid out or straightened out onthe conveyor, as the items (10) are being transported further by theconveyor
 15. The method according to claim 14, further comprisingtransferring the at least one item (10) of laundry to the conveyor in adiagonally directed manner, in a state in which the at least one item oflaundry (10) hangs, or is straightened out, diagonally.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 15, further comprising fixing the rear corner of theat least one item (10) of laundry on the conveyor such that that part ofthe at least one item (10) of laundry which precedes the fixed cornerhangs down freely from that end of the conveyor which is locatedopposite the gripping arrangement (20), wherein a corner of the at leastone item (10) of laundry that is located diagonally opposite the fixedrear corner hangs down the lowest from the conveyor.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 14, further comprising determining movement of afront point, and subsequent movement of a rear point, of the item (10)of laundry past the same region of the conveyor and the distance coveredby the conveyor in the process are determined.
 18. The method accordingto claim 17, further comprising depositing the item (10) of laundry onthe conveyor, and/or receiving the item of laundry (10) from theconveyor by way of diagonally opposite corners.
 19. The method accordingto claim 18, further comprising receiving the item (10) of laundry froma preceding conveyor by virtue of the conveyor being pivoted, whereinthe rear end (32) of the conveyor, which is oriented towards thepreceding conveyor, is pivoted beneath an end of the preceding conveyoror a counterpressure means beneath the end of the preceding conveyor.20. The method according to 19, wherein the item (10) of laundry isreceived by the conveyor by way of the corner or point fixed on thepreceding conveyor.